Friction-clutch.



W. S. HARLEY.

PRIGTION CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED our. 9. 1911.

Patented Mar. 12, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

v w. s. HARLEY.

FRICTION CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 9. 1911.

1,020,199. Patented Mar. 12, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@IWMW Patented Mar. 12, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

V in M W. S. HARLEY.

FRICTION CLUTCH.

APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 9. 1911.

W. S. HARLEY.

FRICTION CLUTCH. APPLICATION FILED 001'. a, 1911.

Patented Mar. 12, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

S W///% C 7' H "WILLIAM S. HARLEY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. i

FRICTION-CLUTCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ar. 12, 1912.

Application filed. October 9, 1911. Serial No. 653,551.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. HARLEY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of'Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Friction-Clutches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact dcscription thereof.

My invention refers to clutches of the friction type, the object being to provide a simple, economical, positive and at the same time sensitive clutch of this character, the clutch being particularly designed to be aplied to the wheel hub of a mortorcycle, it

eing understood that the same can be utilized economically in connection with any mechanism where it is desirable to connect and disconnect a drive and driven member manually and when applied to a motorcycle its purpose is to effect a free engine under manual control by the operator.

With the above object in view the invention consists in what is herein shown, described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a clutch mechanism embodyin the features of my invention, the section being indicated by line 11 of Figs. 2 and 3; Fig. 2, a face view of the clutch mechanism, the view being partly in section as indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1, with parts broken away to more clearly show certain structural features; Fig. 3, a sectional face view of the clutch mechanism, the plane of the section being indicated by line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a sectional face view looking from the reverse side, the section being indicated by line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a detailed cross-section of the tie connection between the threaded sleeve and frame of the machine to which the clutch mechanism is attached, and Fig. 6, a detailed crosssection of the supporting connection between one of the clutch members and a gripping member.

Referring by characters to the drawings, 1 represents a fork member which forms art of the vehicle frame and in the end of w ich is secured a shaft 2, it bein understood that the opposite end of said s aft is similarly supported in a fork member not shown. J ournaled upon the shaft is a wheel-hub 3, the same being mounted upon asuitable ball-bearing mechanism of ordinary construction, whereby friction is eliminated, at

ball-race 4 being in threaded union with the end portion 3 of the barrel of said hub. The end portion 3' of the barrel hub is provided with a series of notches 3" at intervals throughout its circumference for the reception of lugs 5 that form part of a collar 6 which is fitted over said barrel as best shown in Fig. 1, the lugs 5 bein held against end-play in their seats by a anged end of the ball-race 4 which overlaps the end of the barrel. The collar 6 has a notched right angular flange 7 for the reception of a correspondingly notched disk 8, which dis'k constitutes a clutch member, the collar forming a rigid supporting hub therefor. The disk is held in 1ts seat with relation to the notched flange 7 by a spanner ring 8, which ring is in threaded union with a shoulder of the flange. It will be understood that the disk which constitutes the clutch member is thus, rigidly secured to the wheel hub and by this detailed arrangement the same can readily be attached to a hub of standard type by simply notching the end of the barrel as previously mentioned. The outer face of the collar also forms a cup for a double series of anti-friction balls 9 which serve as bearings for the hub 10 that forms part of a shell 11 which is thus rotatably mounted upon the wheel hub, the double series of balls 9 being s aced apart by a circular internal rib of t e hub 10, which hub is held against end play by a keeper ring 10' that is in threaded union with the inner end of the collar 8. In the illustrations shown the shell is designed to be used as a hub for a band pulley which is connected to said hub by a series of spokes not shown, it being understood that the wheel hub 3 is arranged to receive also a series of wire spokes that are connected to a wheel rim .or tread not shown.

The internal circular face of the shell 11 is provided with a shoulder having a series of notches 11 therein for interlocked engagement with a pair of clutch rings 12, the same being provided with peripheral spurs 12' for engagement with the notches, whereby said clutch rings are adapted to rotate with the shell, but are capable of endwise movement relative thereto, the said clutch rings in conjunction with the sleeve 11 constituting a second clutch member which may be connected or disconnected from the first mentioned clutch member or disk 8 at the will of the operator by mechanism to be hereinafter described.

A. gripping member in the form of a ring 13'is" fitted. within ,the' shell 11, between which gripping. member and the disk 8, the clutch rings 12 are interposed; The ring 13- is provided with a horizontal face 13' that isjmerged into a vertical apertured hub sec-, jti;on 13, the'bore' of which hub section is of silbh dimensions ,as'to permit the same to play-lengthwise over the hub of the shell. .I Tha -hub ."SBQfilIIL -i 13"! is also provided with a 0" series of .a ertiires 14 for engagement with studs 14(- t at project from the inner. face of the-disk 8,3-the studs forming-a connection betweenthe gri' ping ring 13 and said. disk I 8101" clutch fmem er. Thus it will be under-- is arranged to rotate with the disk 8 but is capableof end play relativethereto;

A'second gripping ringiscarri d bythe gripping ring 13, the bore of the same being m'arran ed tofit over the horizontal face\ 13.

Of'SBjL gripping ring. The second ngring-15 is. providedwith a series-o ey :lu gs.15, which .are fitted into horizontally disposed key-seats. that are formed "in the .5 face. 13*fof gripping ring 13"and henceiit will be-understood that the second gripping .ring is supported by and-rotated with the first named gripping ring; but is capable of endwise play .upon the cupped hub of the face laivtandvertical hub section 13". alihe secon' gripping ring .15 is .lnterpose eh .;z'luteh="rings 12; therebeing a seclutch rings. -l6'ij'interpo'sed and disk 8, v gripping rings 13,

is provided with :a secondsetb apertures through which extend;boltsi-ll'thatfl have their heads countersunkwithinla "flutesof the disk 8. These bolts us pairs by tie-straps'17 whichgar'e. threaded engagement with the inner ends" ofsaid:

bolts and between which; straps and the inner faces of the-hub section 13 -arein'+.9

. springs asshown serve'tojdraw'tlie" 'ip plate 13 toward the disk8 arid-thimhbcliith series of; gripping disks whereby the-two gripping -members are secured together. The tension of the springs bein regulated by adjustment of the bolts w ereby the straps which are in threaded engagement therewith will be drawnin or out incidental to rotation of said bol-ts,'it being apparent that owing to the 'fact that the bolts are loosely mounted within the disk that they will have no function as a support'for the- B5 gripping ring 13 and hence the said ring is stood that the grippingring or member 13- same, which hub-is formed bythe horizontal s 12,'all of'which latter seized i .terposed coiled springs .18, the same being wound about the "bolts and under suitablei compression. It is apparentthat tlieyeoiled',v ,4

said hub section being'telescoped oversthe supported as previously stated b the studs 14 which serve as guides an therefor.

- retainers A sleeve 18 is fitted over a flattened sec- I tion 2. of the shaft 2, the sleeve beingpro- .vided with-a slotted bore which is adapted to fit tightly upon the flattened, section of the shaft whereby the sleeve is held against rotation. The outer face of the sleeve 18' is provided with threads vfor the reception.

of a nut 19 which is adapted to be manually.

oscillated. Owing1 to the fact that the twisting strain upon t e sleeve in the operation of the clutch is considerable, the end of the I sleeve is also'held' securelyjand to accom' plish the desired resultrthe said sleeve end Hencethe sleeve is held {rigidly at its} outer is provided with aYs quared shankf2flfoven which is fitted a key-lever.21*"liavingg-itsj outer end secured to the j fork; member gl. v p 185.; and inner.endfand'willjthus eflefctual1yre-:j

sist all twisting-strain. The nut'19jis pro-.

vided with a vertically disposed flangeYlQ; I from which extends an 'aperturedear that has connectedlthereto anoperating rod 19'.."

v 7 9'0? This rod-is. adapted to-be extended to-Q'any convenient location accessible to the o eraj or-and may bema'nipulated by a "suitable lever not shown. v i 1 Just rearward of'the nut flange there is loosely mounteda spreader plate22, between which and the flangethere is interposed a series of anti-frictionballs 237. that are retained by a keeper-ring 23'-. As best shown in Fig. 1, the spreader'ring carriesa series offlthrust pins 24 which extend through.

apertures in the disk 8 andhave their ends arranged to abut the hub section 13 of the gripping ring 13 whereby said gripping ring is'moved endwisein opposition. to its spring control. v

From theforegoing description it will be understbod that when the nut is moved. for-. wardlyfb the operating rod its: threaded. union wit the sleeve will cause the same to move inwardly. This. inward movement will .be -exerted upon the spreader-plate and the thrust pins 'ofsthelatter will thus force the gri ping member-or ring-13 away from thejdls 8 in opposition to the coiled springs,

its hub section13 beingmoved to the right,

which movement is'permitted by the bore in hub 10 of the shell 11. The. clutch 'mem bers or rings being thus disconnected or spread,- the clutch members-will be from each other and in this-instance'the shell 11, together with its rings 12, being connected to the engine, will "rotate freely ment of the rings with the shell which is the l5 threaded union with drive clutch member and thus power is applied for driving purposes.

I claim:

1. A clutch comprising a shaft, a hub revolubly mounted thereon, a clutch mem: ber carried by the hub, a spring-pressed gripping member in slidable un on with the clutch member, ahub revolubi y mounted upon the first named hub, a second clutch hub revolubly mounted thereon, an apertured clutch disk, a shell provided with a hub loosely mounted upon the wheel-hub, rings carried by the shell, gripping rings in slidable engagement with the disk, bolts extending from the disk, coiled springs carried by the bolts for controlling the gripping rings, a non-rotary exteriorly threaded sleeve carried by the shaft, a nut mounted upon the sleeve, a spreader-plate carried by said disk under control of the nut, and

thrust pins carried by the spreaderplate for controlling movement of the gripping rings in one direction.

3. A clutch comprising a wheel hub, a

clutch disk carried by the hub, a shell journaled upon the hub, a pair of rings in slidableengagement with the shell, a second pair of spring-controlled gripping rings interposed between the shell rings, supporting 40 means connecting the gripping rings and disk, idle friction rings lnterposed between the disk, shell rings and gripping rings, slidable thrust pins carried by the gripping disk for controlling movement of the grip ping rings in one direction, a spreader-plate connecting the thrust pins, a non-rotary exteriorly threaded sleeve in axial alinement with the wheel-hub, a nut carried by the sleeve for engagement with the spreaderplate, and a manually controlled actuating means for the nut.

4. A clutch comprising a shaft, a notched end barrel hub revolubly mounted upon the shaft, a collar fitted upon the end of the barrel hub having lugs engageable with the barrel hub notches, a flange extending from the collar, an apertured disk secured to the flange, a hub shell revolubly mounted upon the collar, clutch rings carried by the shell, the clutch rings being in slidable union therewith, a gripping ring having an apertured hub section alined with the shell rings, a second gripping ring carried by the first named gripping ring and in slidable union therewith, idle rings interposed between the disk, shell rings and gripping rings, lugs extending from said disk engageable with hub apertures of the first mentioned gripping rlng, bolts carried by the aforesaid disk extending through other apertures of the gripping ring hub, coiled sprin s surrounding the bolts, straps in threade union with pairs of said bolts whereby the tension of the coiled springs is regulated, thrust pins,

in slidable union with apertures of the disk having ends engageable with the gripping ring hub section, a spreader-plate connecting the thrust pins, a non-rotatory exteriorly threaded sleeve carried by the shaft, a flanged nut engageable with the sleeve threads, anti-friction balls interposed between the nut fiange and spreader-plate, and manually controlled actuating means for the nut.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of \Visoonsin in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM S. HARLEY.

Witnesses Enwns F. Cdsrun, E. J. MUELLER. 

